The Law on Specifics of State Registration of Local Self-Government Bodies as Legal Entities Has Become Effective

On 13 January, Law of Ukraine No. 925-VIII "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Specifics of State Registration of Local Self-Government Bodies as Legal Entities" (Draft Law No. 3106) was published in the Holos Ukrayiny newspaper.

As it was reported, the law governed relations arising in connection with the state registration of a newly established body and a body established as a result of merger, consolidation, division or transformation of a body of local self-government as a legal entity. The law also remedies defects of legal regulation of the matter of succession of consolidated territorial communities, their village, town, city councils, and executive committees of such councils. The document harmonizes the procedure for reorganization of local self-government bodies in the course of voluntary consolidation of territorial communities and other matters with the laws.

The law, in particular, determines that a consolidated territorial community is the successor of all property, rights and obligations of territorial communities that have consolidated as of the date on which the village, town, city council elected by such consolidated territorial community has acquired its powers.

In case of consolidation of all territorial communities of one district into one consolidated territorial community, all property jointly owned by territorial communities of such district constitutes the municipal property of the consolidated territorial community and the rights and obligations related to such property are held by the consolidated territorial community as of the date on which the village, town, city council elected by such consolidated territorial community has acquired its powers.

In accordance with the Law, budgets of the territorial communities which have consolidated are executed separately until the end of the budgetary period subject to the specific character of such budgets.

Until the end of the period of separate execution of budgets of the territorial communities which have consolidated, the functions of major administrators, and administrators of budgetary funds of the territorial communities which have consolidated continue to be exercised by relevant budget institutions as represented by a village head, mayor elected by the territorial community, and by other directors of budgetary institutions.

As is known, on 6 January 2016, the President of Ukraine signed Draft Law No. 3106 "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Specifics of State Registration of Local Self-Government Bodies as Legal Entities" passed by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 24 December 2015.